Accra, Nov 10, GNA - The Takoradi branch of the Association of Sports Broadcaster of Ghana, (ASBOG) has challenged Mr. Benjamin Koufie, Chairman of the Ghana Football Association, to prove his claim that a Sports Journalist from the municipality set him up in the recent controversial recording of his private conversation with Mr. Yussif Adams Ibrahim, chairman of the executive council of the GFA.

Mr. Eric Kwasi Essel, president of the association told the GNA Sports on Monday that his outfit was displeased with the GFA capo's claim in his quest to get to the bottom of the issue and dared him to produce evidence to back his outbursts.

He said ASBOG was convinced that none of its members had a hand in what he termed "the unlawful recording" which captured the two gentlemen talking on a wide range of issues that became subject for media hype in the last two weeks.

"We have been meeting for some time now and we are beyond conviction that our hands are clean as far as the said recording is concerned and therefore challenge Uncle Ben to prove his claim," he stressed. The president condemning the said recording said it would be wrong for the 71-year-old GFA boss to accuse any of the association's members because the alleged tape first surfaced from Tarkoradi.

"As far as we are concern, Herbert Mensah said he got the tape on his way from Sekondi to Accra and this could have been anywhere else besides Tarkoradi," he told the GNA.

Mr. Essel argued that the tape could have first come from Tarkoradi by way of telepathy and tasked the FA guru to conduct his investigations well in his desire to seek justice at the courts.

Mr Essel referred to a recent interview the FA boss granted to an FM station in which he was quoted as saying "though I have no idea who the recorder might be, I recall receiving two calls from Tarkoradi prior to my entry into Mr. Ibrahim's office where the conversation took place".

He mentioned that though he spoke to both Goodnewss FM and Sky Power Station respectively, all Tarkoradi-based Radio stations, just around the same time, he was unable to figure which call came before the other. He admitted in the interview that negligence on his part to hang up after the call caused him the present embarrassment, which has forced him to withdraw his earlier ambition to seek for a second term after December.

The FA guru expressing regret about the incident saying "if I woke up today and saw the current happenings as nothing but a dream, I would have re-written the whole story over again."

Still standing by whatever the tape captured, Mr. Koufie said the only regret he had as far as the conversation is concerned is the unfavorable comments he made on Mr B.A Mensah, the father of Herbert Mensah, ex-chairman of Kumasi Asante Kotoko and the current chairman of Kumasi King Faisal.

He said he was lured into those allegation against the 80-year old man based on what he termed " wrong information I received from a journalist", whose name, he claimed, he did not even know but could make him out in public.

The Soccer Express of their Friday, October 31, in its banner headline reported on an alleged conversation between Mr. Koufie and Mr. Ibrahim on a wide range of issues.

The alleged conversation, according to the paper, prominently featured Mr. Nsiah as being ineffective and only travel happy and criticized the GHALCA on its proposed take over of the national premier league in 2005 and other dignitaries including the Mensahs.